The SXSW 'Westworld' Experience Shows The Value Of Reality In A Virtual World

When HBO's Westworld first aired in late 2016, it was almost a surprise that the show's vision of an anything-goes fantasy world was portrayed as an actual destination, rather than some sort of VR simulation. Much of this argument stemmed from a sense practicality: "Sure, it isn't easy to create a convincing all-senses VR experience, but it surely can't be tougher than building sympathetic robots and sprinkling them throughout a gigantic swath of land."

A year and a half later, it's clear that the Westworld team was right. Just imagine if the titular theme parkwas shown as being a simulation. Like so many once-bleeding-edge displays of technology, the show would already feel dated (and, apologies to any Lawnmower Man fans out there) likely clumped in with countless other shows and movies that have toyed with this idea. (On another note, it would also be seriously bumping up against the turf of the upcoming Ready Player One movie).

Which brings us to this year's SXSW festival in Austin. SXSW has long been a showcase for emerging technologies—an ever-changing carousal of progress that promises a week-long glimpse into how we'll live in the future. But though there were countless VR experiences on display at this year's festival, and some genuinely interesting tech-driven experiences, the single person/place/thing/experience/offering that people went most bananas for (and it wasn't even close) was perhaps the most low-tech. And, fittingly, it came from Westworld.

Seth Porges

Actors at the Westworld SXSW experience engage in a gunfight

"Westworld: The Delos Experience" has drawn near universal acclaim, with some calling it "one of the best publicity stunts of the 21st century." If you haven't stumbled onto the countless breathless blog posts about it, the gist is pretty simple: Bus a bunch of SXSW-ers to a remote Wild West village, fill it with dozens of remarkably dedicated actors who have been programmed with (that is, memorized) hundreds of pages of dialogue, and see what happens. Beyond that, the height of technology on display may have been the intro DVD they played on the bus ride in.

And it worked. On one level, yeah, it succeeded at its top-line goal of getting people talking about Westworld (as if the show needed it, though I likely won't forget anytime soon that season two premieres on April 22). But really, its success stemmed from its humanity. Wish fulfillment via technology always feels a bit half-baked. In the end, we strive for a sense of there-ness that is only currently possible through physical presence. This is why fans flock to conventions rather than simply sitting at home and watching their favorite movies or playing their favorite games. This is why Disney and Universal theme parks are investing heavily in fully immersive areas based on IPs such as Harry Potter, Avatar, and Star Wars. (And one has to imagine that executives from these companies are looking at the Westworld SXSW experience and setting up meetings with HBO. Though a western theme park experience filled with booze and brothels may be a bit of a stretch for the family-friendly Orlando.)

The worst part about the SXSW Westworld experience is that it only ran for a couple of days, and that so few people got to experience it. From HBO's perspective, this may not be a bad thing: It will likely live on as a "you had to be there" sign of status, certain to inspire FOMO and regret for years to come as people who couldn't attend use their imagination to color in the gaps. Fortunately, interested participants have more places than ever to play out similar experiences. Immersive theater has never been bigger, these new theme park worlds are true world wonders, and Disney is even building a Star Wars-themed hotel in Florida that adds full immersion and storylines to the guest stay (there aren't even windows, lest the site of the Florida sun ruin the illusion of floating in space). And unlike the pop-up Westworld theme park at SXSW, Disney park fixtures tend to last for decades, rather than days .

In the end, the big takeaway of this year's SXSW is a simple: Technology doesn't replace human experience of being somewhere special, it just makes us crave it more.